Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $26.39, but opened at $27.48. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $27.56, with a volume of 2,160,300 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQNR. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Equinor ASA from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.70 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 12th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Equinor ASA from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Equinor ASA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $26.44 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Trading Down 0.5%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.62 and a 200-day moving average of $23.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.57.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $27.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.16 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 20.33%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.304 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Equinor ASA's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 62,732 shares of the company's stock worth $1,486,000 after buying an additional 24,090 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter valued at about $909,000. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,120,000. Folketrygdfondet increased its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 111,466,079 shares of the company's stock worth $2,640,631,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drum Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth about $4,023,000. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA, an energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and other forms of energy in Norway and internationally. It operates through Exploration & Production Norway; Exploration & Production International; Exploration & Production USA; Marketing, Midstream & Processing; Renewables; and Other segments.